Railroad-crossing



(No Model.)

M. SGHLESSMAN. RAILRDAD CROSSING.

N0. 316,576. Patented Apr. 28, 1885.

3o dinary crossings are in use.

45 the upper track, as shown.

upper track have a perpendicular thickness PATENT rrren.

MICHAEL SGHLESSMAN, OF COLUMBIA CITY, INDIANA.

RAILROAD-CROSSING.

ISPECIFILDATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 316,576, dated April 28, 1885.

Application filed July 5, 1883. (No model.)

5 State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railroad-Crossings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in railroad-crossings, whereby the rails of one of 1 the tracks at the crossing are laid in the same plain unbroken manner as at any point on said track where there is no erossing,and the rails of the other track pass over the tops of the rails of the first-named or lower track,

1 while the rails of the last-named or upper track are so arranged as to be readily swung aside and permit the unobstructed passage of trains on the lower track, or, when the rails of the upper track are locked in position, to

permit the free passage of trains on the upper track.

The objects of my invention are to provide a railroad-crossing over which trains may freely pass in all directions without shock or bumping, or the necessity of running slowly,

and without the use of frogs or other analogous devices, thereby preventing the loss of time and the great wear and tear to which rolling-stock and tracks are subject where or- I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view in perspective of both tracks of the crossing, and Fig. 2 is a longi- 5 tudinal sectional view of a portion of the mechanism used for locking the rails of the upper track in position for the passage of trains on the upper track.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in both views.

A A, Fig. 1, represent the ties of the lower track, and E E the rails of the same spiked to the ties in the usual manner. To the ties of the lower track are also bolted the ties B B of These ties for the equal to the height of rails E E on lower track. Across ties A A, and between rails E E, are also bolted the stay-ties D D, which are of the '50 same thickness as ties B B. The permanent rails F F of the upper track are spiked to upper ties, B B, except those movable poreither side of the track is prevented.

tions of rail (marked F F extending from point S to S, and each of sufiicient length to reach across and rest on the tops of both rails E E as well as on the tops of ties B B and stayties D D, as shown. Each movable rail F is hinged to a permanent rail, F, by a strong hinge, H, so that both movable rails F F can be readily swung around over the topsof both rails of the lower track until the ends unprovided with hinges are brought to the points designated by the dotted lines at R B. When a train is to cross on the upper track, the movable rails are swung into the positions shown and locked by the double bolts I and I The locking is done by pressing lever P downward from the dotted lines to its present position, whereby the double bolts are moved forward until they inclose the end of permanent rail F, as seen in Fig. 2, where is also shown a slot in rail F at L, through which bolts I and I are held in place by rivets connecting them, and permitted to slide back and forth to look and unlock the rails F and F.

Opposite the hinges H H, on each movable rail, are riveted the stays J J to aid in holding the permanent and' movable rails in line wit-l1 each other. The lever P is jointed to the outside of each movable rail, and to the short end of said lever is jointed one end of arm a, the other end of said arm being jointed to locking-bolt I, as shown. To the short end of lever. 1? is alsojointed one end of arm a, the other end of which is connected with stop 0 by means of arm 0, as shown. The stops 0 and are jointed at their upper ends to the outside of rail Fhimmediatel y under the cap thereof, and the use of said stops is to prevent the movable rails of the upper track from spreading under the weight and momentum of heavy trains passing over the same. These stops effeet that object by being brought down into slots or mortises r r in stay-ties D D by the same downward motion of lever P that locks rail F in position and line with rail F. Slots 1 a are strengthened by linings or facings of metal inserted in and attached to ties D D, as shown. Stops O O are made of bars of metal of sufficient strength, so that when they are brought down into the metal-lined slots r 1" close to the outer edge of the base of the rail, as illustrated, all spreading of the rails on hen lever]? is raised to unlock the rails,tl1e stops O O are at the same time swnngand raised out of slots 1- r so as to clear the tops of ties D D, rails E E, and ties B B whenever it is necessary to swing open the rails of the upper track for the passage of trains on the lower track. The positions-assii-rned by stops 0 0 when raised out of slots 1" 1" are shown by the dotted lines.

I am aware that broadly railway-crossings in which one set of rails crosses a lower set of rails, and provided with means to move the, upper jointed rail-pieces ont of the way" of trains passing over the lower set of-r'ail-s, arnot new, and therefore disclaim such; but,

Hav'i'ng'describe'd my invention, what I-c-lai m -1s- 1', In a railway-crossing, the laterally and horizontally movable rails F F hinged to the fixed Zra-ils F and locked in position by levers P and bolts 1, constructed and operated as shown and specified.

v.2. Ina railway-crossing, the combination of the unbroken rails E, movable rails F F broken track, in combination with the levers 1?, connected to the stops 0 O engaging with 7 "slots r r in the stay-dies D D to prevent the spreading of the rails, all as shown and specified.

4. The railway-crossing herein described, consisting of movable rails F F", hinged to permanent rails F and crossing a lower unbroken track, in combination with levers f, connected to the stops '0 Q engaging with slot-s r {7' in the stay-dies D D and by links to the locking-bolts I, all arranged for operation as shown, and for the purposes set forth-.

, MICHAEL SOHLESSMAN.

Witnesses:

SAMUEL P. KALER, REzr-N M. YoNTz. 

